Derby County moved third in the Championship after Patrick Bamford's stunning goal earned them victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

The home side had dominated the game but were unable to score, with Michail Antonio denied by Derby's goalkeeper Lee Grant on three occasions.

And they were made to pay when Bamford, on loan from Chelsea, received the ball on the right, stepped inside and curled home a left-foot shot via the underside of the bar for his fifth goal in six games.

Victory took Steve McClaren's side above QPR and to within two points of second-placed Burnley. And the manager knows the chances of earning a top-two spot will only be enhanced with players such as Bamford at his disposal.

"We have got players who can produce quality. There wasn't enough on the night but, as the game went on, it opened up and you can't calculate for a goal like that," the former England manager said.

"It was sheer quality and class to win what was a scrappy game. We nearly took him off but you watch him training and he struggles to hit the big net and hits a lot of cars.

"I thought: 'Here were go again' but this time he kept it down and it was a thunderbolt. He can frustrate you and sometimes flits in and out of games but he is a match-winner and that's what he was tonight. He scores important goals; they're not just any goals. We're just delighted we have got him and we are very surprised how well he has done."

Wigan jumped to seventh with a 2-0 home win against relegation-threatened Barnsley but victory came at a price when their midfielder Ben Watson suffered a serious injury in the first half. Watson, who broke a leg 15 months ago, came off worse in a challenge with Martin Woods and left the DW Stadium in an ambulance.

Use Rösler, the Latics manager, could only confirm Watson was in hospital and would not be drawn on whether the central midfielder would miss the FA Cup holders' quarter-final tie against Manchester City or potentially the rest of his Wigan career with his contract due up in the summer.

"The sore note is now Ben Watson; we don't know [how serious it is] at the moment, it's too early to say," the German said. "I don't want to speculate, the worst thing is speculation. He's in hospital now, we will find out later on or tomorrow morning.

"We could lose him for three days or we could lose him for three months. We must be clear what he has, how long he will be out, at this moment in time I don't know. I've seen many players going to hospital to have an x-ray, to have a scan, that does not necessarily mean it is something serious.

"We hope it's not. Obviously it didn't look good but people have been carried off on a stretcher who played the next game."

Watson's injury caused a lengthy stoppage and clearly shook some of his team-mates at the time but to their credit they quickly focused their concentration back on the task in hand.

Nicky Maynard opened the scoring for them soon after, following excellent work on the left by Jean Beausejour, and Martyn Waghorn added the second just before half-time.

Barnsley played their part and had chances of their own but are now only one point above the bottom club Yeovil, who drew 0-0 with Watford.

Watford's manager, Giuseppe Sannino, pinpointed fatigue as the reason behind his side's inability to score. His team created very little after Alex Merkel's first-half volley forced Marek Stech into a smart stop and they came away with their eighth away draw in their last nine in the Championship.

The Italian shuffled his pack and made four changes, including resting Sean Murray, and he said their 11th match in 45 days was a game too far.

"I said before that my lads are playing a lot of games in a short time and in my opinion this is the main factor," he explained. "It is not an excuse but maybe the fatigue had set in because we have been playing a lot of matches. There was a lot of supporters from Watford here and maybe they deserved a little more from us.

"Because we are playing a lot of games in a short time it is vital to me to give the players time to recover and pick the best 11 for the game. I gave Murray a little rest because we always play with him in the midfield and I would like to choose something different.

"We always play to win the game because we want to give back to the supporters what they do for us and in the second half it was tough on a heavy pitch and maybe we were tired."

Yeovil had the best chances of a drab encounter, Joe Edwards wasting a clear-cut opportunity while Watford's goalkeeper, Manuel Almunia, denied James Hayter and Joe Ralls.